Abstract

Semiconductor microcavities can support quasiparticles which are half-light and half-matter with interactions
possessed by neither component alone. We show that their distorted dispersion relation forms the basis of
a quasiparticle ‘‘trap’’ and elicits extreme enhancements of their nonlinear optical properties. When driven by
a continuous wave laser at a critical angle, the quasiparticles are sucked into the trap, condensing into a
macroscopic quantum state which efficiently emits light.

This device is thus an optical parametric oscillator
based on quasiparticle engineering. In contrast to a laser, macroscopic coherence is established in the electronic excitations as well as the light field. This paves the way to new techniques analogous to those established in atomic and superconducting condensates, such as ultrasensitive solid-state interferometers.